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Last week we were able to accomplish a good deal of clean-up. The last few weeks have provided quite a variety of different weather conditions to work outside. We are grateful to have accomplished what we have.

Yes, we did receive a few inches of snow on October 14. Way to early!

Once the snow had melted and the fields looked dry enough, a variety of steps were taken to close out the fields. First, we harvested the seeds from the flowers that help to bring in good insects to eat the bad insects. First up were the Marigolds. The cool thing about Marigolds – I love harvesting their seeds from the dried up flower heads that are filled with a ton of long skinny seeds. Place in dry paper bag in a dry place and next year plant the seeds.

4 O’clock plants flowers dry up and produce a seed not a group of seeds like Marigolds. But you can still harvest the small black seeds and store in a dry place until next year.

After all the seeds were harvested, we mulched the plants with the mower.

Tilled the gardens.

The ground was wet from the snow and the rain over previous weeks which caused the tiller to plug with mud. So getting it unplugged employed a variety of techniques.

Once tilling was completed, we seeded the fields with rye grass for a cover crop. Thank you to our neighbors for the use of the seeder to speed up this job! See he’s going so fast my pic is blurry:) Yes, we do work past sunset at times and have been blessed with beautiful evenings.

We rolled the ground to get good seed to soil contact. The plants will begin to grow and will start re-growing just like your lawn in the spring.

We also worked on the popcorn harvest.

The boys used their Great, Great Grandpa’s corn sheller to harvest the popcorn seeds. The next step is shaking out the extra corn silks and corn “wings” to have seed that is free of natural corn “debris.”

In addition to all the garden work, we also have to work on rebuilding chicken pens, gates etc. Building skills together one job at a time.

Many trees have been cleared in this area and a new fence built. We may be tired, but we find comfort and strength that we are not alone and are so grateful for our neighbors and friends.

Well, the weather forecasters were right this week, and we are grateful that they provided us ample warning. While we recognize how absolutely fortunate we are compared to so very many, we also have an obligation to communicate with you, our shareholders, what occurred so you know what to expect as we finish out the CSA year.

You never know where your journey will take you. You need to believe that whatever God brings too you that he will take you through to the other side, and you will be ok.

Everything on this side of the house lay facing east. On the other side of the house some it faced north and other trees and corn faced east.

We are grateful that our largest pine trees and Cottonwood trees stayed standing.

Brush pile and still growing. Thankful for the help we had before the storm to harvest a few fields of pumpkins so we had a place for the brush pile.

We did see the green clouds coming from the south-west, and while we live out-of-town, we are fortunate that we can hear the tornado sirens at our place. We did lose power from Thursday night – Saturday evening and are so grateful for those who worked so hard to restore it. The boys said it felt like camping only with the amenity of the comfort of your beds.

We so greatly appreciate everyone who has helped us with cleanup from Thursday night’s storm. Please know that we are beyond thankful to each and every person that has stopped by, helped clean up, brought food and beverages, sent messages, borrowed us equipment and prayed for us.

While there is still clean-up of dangling branches, a few down trees to accomplish, it is all in a manageable state. We did have a chicken coop flip over, no chickens were lost, and some of the pens have been rebuilt.

In regards to the garden, we are absolutely amazed that all of the pumpkins sat there and did not appear to be moved. Only one pumpkin had a stick through it. The popcorn stalks are all broken over and need to be harvested ASAP before the ears get moldy because of the pelting rain into the ears of corn with the husks on them. The ornamental corn and broom corn were also blown over and may be salvageable yet for corn shocks.

No extra end of the year push on harvesting occurred this weekend due to the needed focus on storm clean-up. We will push for that this weekend and then return to clean-up after harvesting is completed.

We ask that you keep those that lost barns, grain storage, houses etc in this storm and other storms this year in your prayers. It is a tough situation to be in and our hearts go out to them.

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Phillippians 4:13

Garden Science

These two pictures were both taken on the east side of our shop. The corn and the Mountain Ash tree are on the same side of the shop. The corn was blown down during the storm and now is facing east.

You can see the Mountain Ash tree laying north as was our flag pole.

Boxes of Produce

This list is prepared before we harvest your share. Some guesswork is involved! We do our best to predict which crops will be ready to harvest, but sometimes crops are on the list that are not in the share, and sometimes crops will be in the share even though they’re not on the list. Remember food safety in your kitchen when preparing, always wash your hands before working with your produce and always wash your produce before eating.

Black Seeded Simpson, Spinach and Kale – This took a bit of a beating from the rain.

Checking for quality cauliflower. Enjoy the beautiful color.

Cauliflower – A few more for the season.

Sweet Savour Hybrid Peppers– They may be small, but they pack quite the taste. The beautiful and tasty tricolor fruit looks like hot peppers but eats like sweet peppers.

Pepper, Hot, Serrano Tampiqueno– Heat-lovers, here’s another Mexican favorite used in a variety of dishes, from salsas to soups. Heat scale is about 3,00-0 Scovilles.

Carrots– Esperanza carrots – enjoy these summer delights. This new crop is out of the garden versus the raised bed.

Kohlrabi– So glad that the insects didn’t win this time on this crop. Peel and cut like an apple eat raw, in salads or dip the slices in peanut butter. Enjoy!

Same onion in these two pictures. Sam thought this side resembled the orange hue of fall.

This side the yellow/green of summer.

Onions – If you are feeling overloaded on onions, cut them up and spread them out and freeze on a cookie sheet or pan. Once frozen place in a container or a Ziploc bag for use throughout the year. I do this and am just coming to my end of frozen onions. This helps speed up my meal preparation. See how onions are grown in Washington.

Potatoes –Norlands (red) great for mashed or cooked potatoes, and Masquerade (purple and tan) potatoes are very versatile with a light buttery flavor.

Sweet Potatoes – Sweet potato has a rich history and interesting origin. It is one of the oldest vegetables known to mankind. Scientists believe that sweet potato was domesticated thousands of years ago in Central America. Learn more about sweet potatoes here.

Harvesting Detroit Dark Red Beets

Detroit Dark Red Beets– It is perhaps the last beets of the season. Enjoy!

Golden Egg Hybrid Summer Squash – This crop is slowly coming on with either Golden Egg Hybrid great to wash and slice to eat on a veggie tray, use on a kabob or try it sautéed in a little olive oil, salt and pepper.

Peter Pan Squash– No need to peel, simply wash and cut up this squash and use like the others. Check out these recipes.

Zucchini – This crop has been a bit slow due to our insect challenges this year. But it is coming on. So like the cauliflower and kohlrabi we are alternating it around the shareholders. Enjoy – here are some recipes from Country Living.

A colorful collection of summer squash and egg-plant.

Egg Plant – Please let us know if you like egg-plant. I believe this is the last of the season.

Watermelons – Sangria are smaller 8-12 pound fruit and Micky Lee some of them weigh over 20 pounds. Leftovers can be frozen and used in a fruit smoothie.

Butternut Squash– This is our family favorite of squashes. It is hourglass in shape. Here are a few recipes for Butternut Squash from Martha Stewart.

Carnival Squash– Carnival squash has variegated patterns of orange and green colors and is a hybrid of the sweet dumpling squash and the acorn squash. When cooked its texture is soft and melting with a fragrant aroma and its flavor; slightly nutty, buttery, and sweet with nuances of maple syrup, similar to that of butternut squash. This squash has contains potassium, vitamin A, and vitamin C, as well as, some calcium, magnesium, folate, omega-3 fatty acids and omega-6 fatty acids.

Delicata– Sweet Delicata squash is ideal for a quick vegetable side — it doesn’t need to be peeled and roasts in just 15 minutes. Here is a recipe. https://www.marthastewart.com/1521108/roasted-delicata-squash-garden-herbsHere is a good breakdown of the different varieties with suggestions of how to use them. https://www.thespruceeats.com/winter-squash-and-pumpkins-2217736

Sweet Dumpling– Dumpling squash is best suited for cooked applications such as roasting, sautéing, baking, and steaming and it can be used in both sweet and savory preparations. Its lumpy exterior and small size make it difficult to peel and are most often cooked with their skin on. Similar to a potato and acorn squash, the skin of the Dumpling squash is edible once cooked, though often it is just discarded. Dumpling squash can be halved, cooked, and served as an ideal size for stuffing with meats, cheeses, grains, or other vegetables and it can be roasted and served as a stand-alone side dish.

Uchiki Kuri Winter Squash– This is a popular squash that has attractive orange-red skin. Yellow and creamy flesh is very sweet and nutty. It is a Hubbard type squash and sometimes also referred to as a baby red Hubbard type since its appearance is like that of a petite Hubbard. The word “kuri” translates to mean chestnut in Japanese, the main flavor profile found in the Red Kuri squash. It is a squash is a good source of vitamin A and vitamin C as well as potassium and iron. Hard-skinned Red Kuri squash can be difficult to peel and are most easily cooked in their skin. Split squash in half, scoop out seeds, and roast cut-side down until tender. Red Kuri can also be cut into wedges or cubes and roasted. The skin of Red Kuri once cooked is tender enough to consume so need not be removed prior to eating.

Melt the butter and skim off the foam. Add garlic, seasoned salt, chili powder, and black pepper. Stir with a fork.

In a large bowl, toss the sweet potatoes in the butter/seasoning mixture. Arrange on two baking sheets and bake in the oven for 15 to 17 minutes, shaking the pans halfway through, until the fries are sizzling (watch so that the edges don’t burn). Remove from the oven and allow to sit on the pan for 5 minutes. Sprinkle generously with salt!

Mix the mayonnaise with the ketchup (or Sriracha). Serve fries with the dipping sauce!

Note: Sweet potatoes will not be overly crisp, but they should be firm.

As the growing season is starting to wrap up, you may be wondering why you received some produce items in your box, and why not others. Every growing season is different. While you can plan for some obstacles, some you cannot. So here is a synopsis of some of the crops. We hope this provides answers to some of your questions.

Throughout the growing season we plant different crops multiple times – planting every 2-3 weeks to ensure a continuous supply. You may have noticed that some of them have not been continuous and some have.

The following had different plantings that did not grow during a dry spell. In other words the seeds never germinated – they simply didn’t grow. We just kept planting until they did grow: lettuce varieties, spinach, carrots, sugar snap peas, cucumbers and beets.

Some were eaten by a new particular insect (Japanese Beetles) that found interest in our crops this year – both varieties of kohlrabi, radishes, rutabaga.

We found this little fella enjoying the tomatoes. We believe it may be a cutworm.

Tomatoes – The cut worms usually found in corn seemed to LOVE the tomatoes this year. Simply sad to see so many destroyed.

Garlic – we planted a fall crop that did not grow and planted twice this spring – no luck. We are trying a different supplier of bulbs to plant this fall.

Sweet Corn – We usually plant a crop and also work with our neighbors. Due to the unusual spring, this delayed the planting for our neighbors, and the raccoons found their crop very tasty. Due to Steve’s fall earlier this spring, we simply ran out of time. We are hopeful that you may still receive one bag yet this September.

Ornamental Corn – This may be a bit delayed, but we are hopeful that this crop will come to fruition. We had some germination and weed challenges that we believe we have under control for next year.

Pumpkins, squash and gourds – All I can say is oh my, do we have these crops. While germination was a challenge out of the gate, it sure didn’t seem to be at the end. A nice surprise to its beginnings. We were disappointed to not have more spaghetti and acorn squash grow.

Corn Stalks – Also to note, the weather on Monday did break some of the stalks – so we will know this weekend if we will have cornstalk bundles for you next week. But honestly if that is all we had from this week’s weather we are grateful. We did receive pea size hail on Tuesday night, but it did not appear to harm the pumpkins.

Garden Science

Double pumpkin… looks like two that grew together.

What weights more – is there any relationship to its stem? From our observation, there isn’t but check out the varieties, weights and stem sizes. It is worth noticing. Thank you to everyone who has been out to help harvest. We hope you enjoy the surprises as much as we do.

Boxes of Produce

Packing boxes can be a bonding experience. It actually builds a lot of different good skill sets.

This list is prepared before we harvest your share. Some guesswork is involved! We do our best to predict which crops will be ready to harvest, but sometimes crops are on the list that are not in the share, and sometimes crops will be in the share even though they’re not on the list. Remember food safety in your kitchen when preparing, always wash your hands before working with your produce and always wash your produce before eating.

Black Seeded Simpson, Spinach and Kale – The spinach loved the weather. The Black Seeded Simpson took a beating in the hard rain on Monday, but it does seem to be thriving now after the heat and rain.

Basil– If you are in need of some fresh basil or some to dry or freeze, we have some.

Green Beans – Such a delicious vegetable cooked, eaten raw or in salads. The funny thing with this crop is that it is the same planting that continues to give.

Sweet Savour Hybrid Peppers– They may be small, but they pack quite the taste. The beautiful and tasty tricolor fruit looks like hot peppers but eats like sweet peppers.

Mama Mia Giallo Hybrid – Tapered 7–9″ fruits are smooth-skinned and uniform in shape. Prized as one of the earliest sweet peppers of its size—fruit ripens just 80 days after transplanting. Excellent fresh, roasted, or grilled.

Pepper, Hot, Serrano Tampiqueno– Heat-lovers, here’s another Mexican favorite used in a variety of dishes, from salsas to soups.

Carrots – Esperanza carrots – enjoy these summer delights. This new crop is out of the garden versus the raised bed.

Kohlrabi – So glad that the insects didn’t win this time on this crop. Peel and cut like an apple eat raw, in salads or dip the slices in peanut butter. Enjoy!

Onions–Yellow and Purple If you are feeling overloaded on onions, cut them up and spread them out and freeze on a cookie sheet or pan. Once frozen place in a container or a Ziploc bag for use throughout the year. I do this and am just coming to my end of frozen onions. This helps speed up my meal preparation. See how onions are grown in Washington.

Potatoes– Kennebec (great for baking) and Norlands (good for cooked or mashed) potatoes are in your boxes this week.

Did you know that sweet potatoes are in the morning-glory family?

Sweet Potatoes – Dusky red-skinned Beauregard is the most widely grown commercial cultivar. This versatile variety lends itself to baking, boiling, mashing, or frying. Once you have harvested all your sweet potatoes, it is time to cure them. Store your sweet potatoes in a dry and cool environment (such as a garage or basement). Letting them cure for two months is said to enhance their flavor, but it can be hard to wait that amount of time especially if you love sweet potatoes.

Golden Egg Hybrid Summer Squash– This crop is slowly coming on with either Golden Egg Hybrid great to wash and slice to eat on a veggie tray, use on a kabob or try it sautéed in a little olive oil, salt and pepper.

Peter Pan Squash– No need to peel, simply wash and cut up this squash and use like the others. Too much of this squash or not ready to use it yet? Use it as fall decoration in the meantime. Check out these recipes.

Zucchini – This crop has been a bit slow due to our insect challenges this year. But it is coming on. So like the cauliflower and kohlrabi we are alternating it around the shareholders. Enjoy – here are some recipes from Country Living.

Tomatoes – Let us know if you would like extra to freeze, make into salsa, or can. Included this week are some of the 4th of July, Mama Mia, SunGold Cherry tomatoes and a few more varieties sprinkled in. Learn more about tomatoes on America’s Heartland. Learn how to freeze your tomatoes here.

Purple Cauliflower– love the color – check out this week’s recipe.

Watermelon

Watermelons – Sangria are smaller 8-12 pound fruit and Micky Lee some of them weigh over 20 pounds. Leftovers can be frozen and used in a fruit smoothie.

Butternut Squash– This is our family favorite of squashes. It is hourglass in shape. Here are a few recipes for Butternut Squash from Martha Stewart.

Carnival Squash

Carnival Squash– Carnival squash is a hybrid of the sweet dumpling squash and the acorn squash. The color variance in the rind of the Carnival squash is the result of seasonal temperature variations. Warmer temperatures produce Carnival squash with slightly more pronounced green stripes. The squash’s flavor is nutty and sweet.

Delicata – Sweet delicata squash is ideal for a quick vegetable side — it doesn’t need to be peeled and roasts in just 15 minutes. Here is a recipe. https://www.marthastewart.com/1521108/roasted-delicata-squash-garden-herbsHere is a good breakdown of the different varieties with suggestions of how to use them. https://www.thespruceeats.com/winter-squash-and-pumpkins-2217736

Sweet Dumpling – Dumpling squash is best suited for cooked applications such as roasting, sautéing, baking, and steaming and it can be used in both sweet and savory preparations. Its lumpy exterior and small size make it difficult to peel and are most often cooked with their skin on. Similar to a potato and acorn squash, the skin of the Dumpling squash is edible once cooked, though often it is just discarded. Dumpling squash can be halved, cooked, and served as an ideal size for stuffing with meats, cheeses, grains, or other vegetables and it can be roasted and served as a stand-alone side dish.

Uchiki Kuri Winter Squash

Uchiki Kuri Winter Squash– This is a popular squash that has attractive orange-red skin. Yellow and creamy flesh is very sweet and nutty. It is a Hubbard type squash and sometimes also referred to as a baby red Hubbard type since its appearance is like that of a petite hubbard. The word “kuri” translates to mean chestnut in Japanese, the main flavor profile found in the Red Kuri squash. It is a squash is a good source of vitamin A and vitamin C as well as potassium and iron. Hard-skinned Red Kuri squash can be difficult to peel and are most easily cooked in their skin. Split squash in half, scoop out seeds, and roast cut-side down until tender. Red Kuri can also be cut into wedges or cubes and roasted. The skin of Red Kuri once cooked is tender enough to consume so need not be removed prior to eating.

Gourds– Look for more to come – a lot of harvesting to be done.

Pumpkins – We hope you enjoy this fall ornament

Quite a few varieties of pumpkins to choose from.

Recipe of the Week

Purple cauliflower – Purple cauliflower’s color is due to the presence of the antioxidant anthocyanin, which can also be found in red cabbage and red wine.

Cauliflower on the Grill

½ head of cauliflower

2 Tablespoons butter

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Lemon pepper (as desired)

Wash and break up cauliflower into bite-size pieces. Place on aluminum foil. Add butter and lemon pepper. Wrap up in foil. Place on medium low heat on the grill for 10 to 15 minutes (until tender) turning once. Sprinkle cheese on it and let it set for a few minutes so it melts.

We decided it was time to start harvesting pumpkins, winter squashes and gourds. Boy have we been surprised at all of the treasurers we are finding. We are always amazed at what we find once the leaves start to die and reveal what they have been helping to grow.

We hope that you to will be constantly surprised each week as we start bringing out more of the harvest at these beautiful delights to brighten your homes and doorsteps. May they bring smiles to your faces as much as they bring smiles to ours.

Garden Science

Steve has said that this is one of his favorite things to do for our shareholders. During mid-summer, he takes his wood working tool that was hand made by his Great-Grandpa and gently scars the outside skin of the growing pumpkin by etching in your last names.

The result are these fun creations.

The boys enjoy helping with this as well. Perhaps one of the reasons they enjoy it so much is that they recognize the joy it brings to all of you. Our thanks for being shareholders.

Boxes of Produce

This list is prepared before we harvest your share. Some guesswork is involved! We do our best to predict which crops will be ready to harvest, but sometimes crops are on the list that are not in the share, and sometimes crops will be in the share even though they’re not on the list. Remember food safety in your kitchen when preparing, always wash your hands before working with your produce and always wash your produce before eating.

Lettuces – Should return next week especially with this weather.

Basil and Cilantro– If you are in need of some fresh basil, Cilantro or Dill to dry or freeze, we have some.

Purple and Green Beans – Such a delicious vegetable cooked, eaten raw or in salads.

Sweet Savour Hybrid Peppers – They may be small, but they pack quite the taste. The beautiful and tasty tricolor fruit looks like hot peppers but eats like sweet peppers.

Mama Mia Giallo Hybrid – Tapered 7–9″ fruits are smooth-skinned and uniform in shape. Prized as one of the earliest sweet peppers of its size—fruit ripens just 80 days after transplanting. Excellent fresh, roasted, or grilled.

Pepper, Hot, Serrano Tampiqueno– Heat-lovers, here’s another Mexican favorite used in a variety of dishes, from salsas to soups. Heat scale is about 3,00-0 Scovilles.

Carrots – Esperanza carrots – enjoy these summer delights. This new crop is out of the garden versus the raised bed.

Kohlrabi – So glad that the insects didn’t win this time on this crop. Peel and cut like an apple eat raw, in salads or dip the slices in peanut butter. Enjoy!

Onions –If you are feeling overloaded on onions, cut them up and spread them out and freeze on a cookie sheet or pan. Once frozen place in a container or a Ziploc bag for use throughout the year. I do this and am just coming to my end of frozen onions. This helps speed up my meal preparation. See how onions are grown in Washington.

Potatoes – Kennebec and Blue potatoes are in your boxes this week.

Sweet Potatoes – Sweet potato has a rich history and interesting origin. It is one of the oldest vegetables known to mankind. Scientists believe that sweet potato was domesticated thousands of years ago in Central America. Learn more about sweet potatoes here.

Golden Egg Hybrid Summer Squash– This crop is slowly coming on with either Golden Egg Hybrid great to wash and slice to eat on a veggie tray, use on a kabob or try it sautéed in a little olive oil, salt and pepper.

Peter Pan Squash – No need to peel, simply wash and cut up this squash and use like the others. Check out these recipes.

Zucchini – This crop has been a bit slow due to our insect challenges this year. But it is coming on. So like the cauliflower and kohlrabi we are alternating it around the shareholders. Enjoy – here are some recipes from Country Living.

Tomatoes – Let us know if you would like extra to freeze, make into salsa, or can. Included this week are some of the 4th of July, Super Sweet 100 Hybrid, SunGold Cherry tomatoes and a few more varieties sprinkled in. Learn more about tomatoes on America’s Heartland. Learn how to freeze your tomatoes here.

Butternut Squash

Butternut Squash– This is our family favorite of squashes. It is hourglass in shape. Here are a few recipes for Butternut Squash from Martha Stewart.

Carnival Squash

Carnival Squash– Carnival squash has variegated patterns of orange and green colors and is a hybrid of the sweet dumpling squash and the acorn squash. When cooked its texture is soft and melting with a fragrant aroma and its flavor; slightly nutty, buttery, and sweet with nuances of maple syrup, similar to that of butternut squash. This squash has contains potassium, vitamin A, and vitamin C, as well as, some calcium, magnesium, folate, omega-3 fatty acids and omega-6 fatty acids.

Uchiki Kuri Winter Squash

Uchiki Kuri Winter Squash – This is a popular squash that has attractive orange-red skin. Yellow and creamy flesh is very sweet and nutty. It is a Hubbard type squash and sometimes also referred to as a baby red hubbard type since its appearance is like that of a petite hubbard. The word “kuri” translates to mean chestnut in Japanese, the main flavor profile found in the Red Kuri squash. It is a squash is a good source of vitamin A and vitamin C as well as potassium and iron. Hard-skinned Red Kuri squash can be difficult to peel and are most easily cooked in their skin. Split squash in half, scoop out seeds, and roast cut-side down until tender. Red Kuri can also be cut into wedges or cubes and roasted. The skin of Red Kuri once cooked is tender enough to consume so need not be removed prior to eating.

Name Pumpkins– We hope you enjoy this fall ornament

Gourds – Look for more to come – a lot of harvesting to be done.

The gourd vines love growing on other plants.

Jack-be-Little and Baby Boo Pumpkins

Recipe of the Week

A favorite in our house thank you to my friend Sarah Durenberger at From the Farm Table.

Answering top of mind consumer questions about the food to farm journey at the Minnesota State Fair.

Consumers at the Minnesota State Fair were interested in what we grew, why we grow it, and what our favorite farm memories were.

It has been another week filled with unique opportunities. First, we worked at the Farm Bureau building at the Minnesota State Fair. While some may shy away from the experience, we encourage you to give the Great Minnesota Get Together a try. Whether you are a consumer seeking to visit with farmers and see some animals, or you are a Farm Bureau member and are available to volunteer to connect with consumers – give it a try.

The boys enjoyed sharing their farm knowledge with fairgoers and answering questions that the consumers had about how their food is grown. Good conversations of answering questions of the food to farm journey with questions coming from honest places of just wanting to better understand how food is grown and dispelling the confusion around food labels.

Sharing experiences together and learning from them help us all to grow.

In other news, the weather has opened up its skies and dumped nearly 5 inches at our place over the last few days. Since we knew there wasn’t going to be a break in the rain yesterday, we harvested through it last night. I didn’t capture any photos because we were to wet and would have ruined the camera.

We were thankful there was no lightning so this was possible. Nothing binds a family together like working through adverse conditions.

Each growing season is unique, please keep farmers across our nation facing these torrential rains and weather conditions in your prayers as they work hard to bring in crops to feed, fuel and clothe us.

Boxes of Produce

This list is prepared before we harvest your share. Some guesswork is involved! We do our best to predict which crops will be ready to harvest, but sometimes crops are on the list that are not in the share, and sometimes crops will be in the share even though they’re not on the list. Remember food safety in your kitchen when preparing, always wash your hands before working with your produce and always wash your produce before eating.

Black Seeded Simpson/Red Oak Leaf Lettuce/Spinach/Kale– These crops taste good on a sandwich or salad. New crops will be ready next week.

Basil– If you are in need of some fresh basil or some to dry or freeze, we have some.

Purple and Green Beans – Such a delicious vegetable cooked, eaten raw or in salads.

I miss labeled these as Banana Peppers. They are actually Sweet Savour Hybrid Peppers. Please provide feedback on the variety of peppers this year.

Sweet Savour Hybrid Peppers– They may be small, but they pack quite the taste. The beautiful and tasty tricolor fruit looks like hot peppers but eats like sweet peppers.

Mama Mia Giallo Hybrid – Tapered 7–9″ fruits are smooth-skinned and uniform in shape. Prized as one of the earliest sweet peppers of its size—fruit ripens just 80 days after transplanting. Excellent fresh, roasted, or grilled.

Pepper, Hot, Serrano Tampiqueno– Heat-lovers, here’s another Mexican favorite used in a variety of dishes, from salsas to soups. Heat scale is about 3,00-0 Scovilles.

Detroit Dark Red Beets Cooked beets: -Cut the top and the bottom off -Place in boiling water -Boil until you can stick a fork through it -Take out of boiling water -Using a paper towel, gently rub the skin off -Slice and enjoy with a dab of butter.

Carrots – Esperanza carrots – enjoy these summer delights. This new crop is out of the garden versus the raised bed.

Kohlrabi– So glad that the insects didn’t win this time on this crop. Peel and cut like an apple eat raw, in salads or dip the slices in peanut butter. Enjoy!

Onions –If you are feeling overloaded on onions, cut them up and spread them out and freeze on a cookie sheet or pan. Once frozen place in a container or a Ziploc bag for use throughout the year. I do this and am just coming to my end of frozen onions. This helps speed up my meal preparation. See how onions are grown in Washington.

Potatoes – Yukon and Masquerade potatoes are in your boxes this week.

Yukon Gold Potatoes -The smooth, thin, and gold to light brown skin is relatively eye free creating a uniform texture and shape. The skin is also speckled with many small, brown spots. The flesh is yellow to gold, firm, moist, and waxy. When cooked, Yukon Gold potatoes take on a creamy and tender consistency with a rich, buttery, and earthy flavor. Yukon Gold potatoes are best suited for cooked applications such as roasting, grilling, frying, mashing, sautéing, and boiling.

Potatoes grow under the ground and are a tuber. Sometimes when you pull up the dead plant the potatoes come out attached to the plant like you see here. These are Masquerade Potatoes.

Masquerade Potatoes – The bicolored, thin skin has a golden-yellow base and is covered in dominant spots of purple and violet. The flesh is pale yellow to light gold and is firm, dense, and moist. When cooked, Masquerade potatoes offer a creamy and buttery flavor. Masquerade potatoes are best suited for cooked applications such as roasting, baking, boiling, mashing, steaming, frying, or sautéing.

Golden Egg Hybrid Summer Squash– This crop is slowly coming on with either Golden Egg Hybrid great to wash and slice to eat on a veggie tray, use on a kabob or try it sautéed in a little olive oil, salt and pepper.

Peter Pan Squash– No need to peel, simply wash and cut up this squash and use like the others. Check out these recipes.

Zucchini – This crop has been a bit slow due to our insect challenges this year. But it is coming on. So like the cauliflower and kohlrabi we are alternating it around the shareholders. Enjoy – here are some recipes from Country Living.

Tomatoes – Let us know if you would like extra to freeze, make into salsa, or can. Included this week are some of the 4th of July, Super Sweet 100 Hybrid, SunGold Cherry tomatoes and a few more varieties sprinkled in. Learn more about tomatoes on America’s Heartland. Learn how to freeze your tomatoes here.

Butternut Squash

Butternut Squash- This is our family favorite of squashes. It is hourglass in shape. Here are a few recipes for Butternut Squash from Martha Stewart.

Spaghetti Squash

Spaghetti Squash – This oblong light yellow squash is a tasty substitute for spaghetti. Check out this link on how to cook spaghetti squash from Real Simple.

Uchiki Kuri Winter Squash – This is a popular squash that has attractive orange-red skin. Yellow and creamy flesh is very sweet and nutty. It is a hubbard type squash and sometimes also referred to as a baby red hubbard type since its appearance is like that of a petite hubbard. The word “kuri” translates to mean chestnut in Japanese, the main flavor profile found in the Red Kuri squash. It is a squash is a good source of vitamin A and vitamin C as well as potassium and iron. Hard-skinned Red Kuri squash can be difficult to peel and are most easily cooked in their skin. Split squash in half, scoop out seeds, and roast cut-side down until tender. Red Kuri can also be cut into wedges or cubes and roasted. The skin of Red Kuri once cooked is tender enough to consume so need not be removed prior to eating.

Fresh cut arrangement– Hosta Leaves, Hydrangeas, zinnias and more

Fresh cut arrangements to brighten your day.

Recipe of the Week

I have doubled the recipe in this picture: Add: 1 stick of butter 3/4 cup brown sugar Using a mixer, blend together until smooth. Serve.

Blend until smooth. Freeze extra in cupcake tins. Once frozen pop out of tin and place in Ziploc bag perfect for a single portion later on. Store in freezer.

Butternut Squash

My family loves this recipe, and the boys eat it like crazy. I also use the prepared squash in place of pumpkin in many recipes.

*Cut squash in 1/2 add enough water to cover pan (about 1/2 inch up on the side of the pan). Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for about 1 hour.

*Take out of oven. Scoop out seeds. The seeds can be kept and roasted.

*Using a large knife cut off skin and place in another bowl.

Add:

1 stick of butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

Using a mixer, blend together until smooth. Serve.

Blend until smooth. To save the extra, place in a cupcake tin and freeze. Place frozen portions in storage containers to be stored in your freezer. Enjoy!

This week we entered in to a new arena. One we wanted to try last year but missed the deadline…the Minnesota State Fair open class vegetable show. The class for our entries needed to be entered between 7—9 a.m. on the opening day of the state fair. So that meant early alarms were set, and we were on the road by 5:30 a.m. to beat the traffic and ensure we had a parking spot even though we were given a designated parking area. It was a good thing we left when we did because when we arrived there were only four parking spots remaining and when we left the fairgrounds at 8 a.m. the line was very long to enter the fairgrounds.

We were excited that the All Blue potatoes took 3rd in the other varieties potato class. We did not place in the largest zucchini, largest scalloped squash or the largest onion. We would all say we brought very respectable entries and learned so much. Here is some of what we learned.

Zucchini – seems to be the most popular largest vegetable category

Scalloped Squash – If we would have considered this as an entry earlier in the season, we think the entry would have won.

Onion – We have simply never seen as large of an onion as we saw from another entrant. It was huge.

Take Aways – Seeing how others transported their vegetables into the fair. For example, one person had a large snake gourd that he taped down to a 2 x 4 to ensure that it did not break in transport. While another transported his potatoes individually wrapped in a Christmas bulb carrier.

There are so many category options – don’t be afraid to check it out and give it a try.

In summary, it was truly very interesting visiting with others who brought in their entries to the open class show. We learned A LOT from different varieties of vegetables to how to prepare vegetables for show. The boys have regrouped and are already strategizing on what to do differently. Most of all we enjoyed the experience as a family. Living and learning together definitely makes for a stronger family.

Boxes of Produce

This list is prepared before we harvest your share. Some guesswork is involved! We do our best to predict which crops will be ready to harvest, but sometimes crops are on the list that are not in the share, and sometimes crops will be in the share even though they’re not on the list. Remember food safety in your kitchen when preparing, always wash your hands before working with your produce and always wash your produce before eating.

Black Seeded Simpson/Red Oak Leaf Lettuce– Both of these crops taste good on a sandwich or salad.

Spinach/Kale– Great for salads.

Purple Beans – Such a delicious vegetable cooked, eaten raw or in salads.

Banana Peppers– They may be small, but they pack quite the taste.

The purple beans stems are purple while green bean stems are green.

Purple Peppers– A variety of peppers are starting to grow. The boys were in charge of packing so each of you will have a surprise of what is in the box.

Carrots– Esperanza carrots – enjoy these summer delights. This new crop is out of the garden versus the raised bed.

Kohlrabi

Kohlrabi – So glad that the insects didn’t win this time on this crop. Peel and cut like an apple eat raw, in salads or dip the slices in peanut butter. Enjoy!

Onions –If you are feeling overloaded on onions, cut them up and spread them out and freeze on a cookie sheet or pan. Once frozen place in a container or a Ziploc bag for use throughout the year. I do this and am just coming to my end of frozen onions. This helps speed up my meal preparation. See how onions are grown in Washington.

Potatoes – It is awesome how quickly freshly dug potatoes quick. I boiled potatoes to make into mashed potatoes this week, and they were ready in less than 20 minutes.

Golden Egg Hybrid Summer Squash– This crop is slowly coming on with either Golden Egg Hybrid great to wash and slice to eat on a veggie tray, use on a kabob or try it sautéed in a little olive oil, salt and pepper.

Peter Pan Squash

Peter Pan Squash– No need to peel, simply wash and cut up this squash and use like the others. Check out these recipes.

Zucchini – This crop has been a bit slow due to our insect challenges this year. But it is growing. Enjoy – here are some recipes from Country Living.

Big Mama tomatoes – Plum-shaped and enormous, Big Mama Hybrid tomatoes grow up to 5 in. (13-cm) long and 3 in. (8 cm) across. In the kitchen, this variety is easy to peel and core. One of the best paste tomatoes, Big Mama is excellent in sauces. These tomatoes need at least one inch (2.5 cm) of water per week and prefer six hours or more of direct sun each day.

Fourth of July tomatoes

Tomatoes – Let us know if you would like extra to freeze, make into salsa, or can. Included this week are some of the 4th of July, Super Sweet 100 Hybrid, SunGold Cherry tomatoes and a few more varieties sprinkled in. Learn more about tomatoes on America’s Heartland. Learn how to freeze your tomatoes here.

Fresh cut arrangement– Hosta Leaves, Hydrangeas, zinnias and more

Uchiki Kuri Winter Squash – wash off with a chlorox wite.

Cut off the stem, cut in half, place cut side down, add water about 1/2 inch deep, cover with aluminium foil, place in pre-heated 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for one hour.

I peeled the skin off for this recipe use. Skin is edible. Scrape seeds out.

Place in a bowl, blend with a 1/2 cup butter and 3/4 cup brown sugar. Freeze extra in cupcake tins. Once frozen, take out of the tins and place in a ziploc bag in freezer and use when needed.

Uchiki Kuri Winter Squash – This is a popular squash that has attractive orange-red skin. Yellow and creamy flesh is very sweet and nutty. It is a hubbard type squash and sometimes also referred to as a baby red hubbard type since its appearance is like that of a petite hubbard. The word “kuri” translates to mean chestnut in Japanese, the main flavor profile found in the Red Kuri squash. It is a squash is a good source of vitamin A and vitamin C as well as potassium and iron. Hard-skinned Red Kuri squash can be difficult to peel and are most easily cooked in their skin. Split squash in half, scoop out seeds, and roast, cut-side down until tender. Red Kuri can also be cut into wedges or cubes and roasted. The skin of Red Kuri once cooked is tender enough to consume so need not be removed prior to eating.

Recipe of the Week

Keith made this recipe for his 4-H foods entry at the county fair. He experimented earlier this summer using pureed carrots, squash and pumpkin in this recipe. We like them all.

Sam captured this unique photo of one of our chickens. Very interesting detail which speaks to the idea of keeping a watchful eye on things.

Sam captured some neat photos the other night. This one spoke to our efforts – we are keeping an eye on things. Whether it is the weather, weeds and insects; maturing crops ready to harvest or caring for our livestock. Sit back and enjoy some of our views, and Sam’s photography.

Garden Science

We found this little fella enjoying the tomatoes. We believe it may be a cutworm. Early in the season cutworms may cause stand loss by cutting off seedling or recently transplanted tomato plants at the soil line. Later in the season these pests can also injure tomatoes by eating irregular holes in the surface of fruits; tomato fruit touching the ground are generally the most seriously injured.

A neat photo of the grasshopper near the hydrangea. Among vegetable crops certain plants are favored, such as lettuce, carrots, beans, sweet corn, and onions. Squash, peas, and tomatoes (leaves, not fruit) are among the plants that tend to be avoided. Grasshoppers less commonly feed on leaves of trees and shrubs.

Boxes of Produce

This list is prepared before we harvest your share. Some guesswork is involved! We do our best to predict which crops will be ready to harvest, but sometimes crops are on the list that are not in the share, and sometimes crops will be in the share even though they’re not on the list. Remember food safety in your kitchen when preparing, always wash your hands before working with your produce and always wash your produce before eating.

Black Seeded Simpson/Red Oak Leaf Lettuce– Both of these crops taste good on a sandwich or salad.

Spinach/Kale– Great for salads.

Banana Peppers– They may be small, but they pack quite the taste.

Purple Peppers– A variety of peppers are starting to grow. The boys were in charge of packing so each of you will have a surprise of what is in the box.

Carrots – Esperanza carrots – enjoy these summer delights. This new crop is out of the garden versus the raised bed.

Kohlrabi– So glad that the insects didn’t win this time on this crop. Peel and cut like an apple eat raw, in salads or dip the slices in peanut butter. Enjoy!

Purple cauliflower and egg plant – Purple cauliflower’s color is due to the presence of the antioxidant anthocyanin, which can also be found in red cabbage and red wine. Purple cauliflower also goes by the variety names Sicilian Violet, Violet Queen and Grafitti cauliflower. Nutritional Value Cauliflower is rich in vitamin C with a half cup of florets providing nearly half of ones daily requirement for vitamin C. It also provides a fair amount of fiber, vitamin A, folate, calcium and potassium as well as selenium, which works with Vitamin C to boost the immune system.

Purple Cauliflower and Egg Plant– These crops are slowly maturing. So we will be alternating our way through everyone as they mature. Look for these surprises in the boxes.

Onions –If you are feeling overloaded on onions, cut them up and spread them out and freeze on a cookie sheet or pan. Once frozen place in a container or a Ziploc bag for use throughout the year. I do this and am just coming to my end of frozen onions. This helps speed up my meal preparation. See how onions are grown in Washington.

Potato plant flowers

Potatoes– It is awesome how quickly freshly dug potatoes quick. I boiled potatoes to make into mashed potatoes this week, and they were ready in less than 20 minutes.

Golden Egg Hybrid Summer Squash– This crop is slowly coming on with either Golden Egg Hybrid great to wash and slice to eat on a veggie tray, use on a kabob or try it sautéed in a little olive oil, salt and pepper.

Peter Pan Squash– No need to peel, simply wash and cut up this squash and use like the others. Check out these recipes.

Zucchini – This crop has been a bit slow due to our insect challenges this year. But it is coming on. So like the cauliflower and kohlrabi we are alternating it around the shareholders. Enjoy – here are some recipes from Country Living.

Big Mama tomatoes – Plum-shaped and enormous, Big Mama Hybrid tomatoes grow up to 5 in. (13-cm) long and 3 in. (8 cm) across. In the kitchen, this variety is easy to peel and core. One of the best paste tomatoes, Big Mama is excellent in sauces. These tomatoes need at least one inch (2.5 cm) of water per week and prefer six hours or more of direct sun each day.

Tomatoes– Let us know if you would like extra to freeze, make into salsa, or can. Included this week are some of the 4th of July, Super Sweet 100 Hybrid, SunGold Cherry tomatoes and a few more varieties sprinkled in. Learn more about tomatoes on America’s Heartland. Learn how to freeze your tomatoes here.

Eggs – These eggs can be used just like any of the eggs you have used previously. They are different colors because they come from breeds that lay different colored egg shells then the ones you buy at the store. Just sit back enjoy the beautiful colors and the time spent cooking up some of your favorite egg dishes.

140 pounds of tomatoes were harvested this week. Let us know if you need some for canning or freezing.

After each week’s CSA, we gather around to eat a late supper and share what we experienced that evening. All of us enjoy visiting with you and hearing about your weeks. We also enjoy hearing how you are using your produce – what you like and what you don’t like. This helps us to improve on what we do. We always strive to do better than we did the week before. So, your feedback is greatly appreciated.

We love seeing kids enjoy pulling a carrot and eating it out of the garden to others filling their pockets with banana peppers to kids who normally hate tomatoes eating 4th of July tomatoes like apples to those who love the flowers and how they brighten their day to others who bring in their boxes to work and share with coworkers – no leftovers to be had. These actions, stories and comments brighten our days, make our souls happy and help us to feel value in the hard work that we do.

You are each appreciated beyond words and valued beyond measure. As we reflected on our appreciation, I looked to the Bible with these two readings which feel like an appropriate fit.

This captures how we feel: “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:11

These our the wishes for you: “The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” – Numbers 6:24-26

A growing update: The weather has been dry so some of the crops we planted over a month ago – such as the next crop of peas are only about 2 inches high. Likewise, crops we planted have not yet sprouted. Please bear with us as we patiently wait for Mother Nature to take action.

These boys harvested 64.4 pounds of green beans. They were happy to donate a vegetable that the local food shelf was in need of. Way to go kids!

Garden Science

Just an update on our potatoes we are growing in tires. They are now four tires high. The tires are filled with dirt as the potato plant continues to grow.

Boxes of Produce

This list is prepared before we harvest your share. Some guesswork is involved! We do our best to predict which crops will be ready to harvest, but sometimes crops are on the list that are not in the share, and sometimes crops will be in the share even though they’re not on the list. Remember food safety in your kitchen when preparing, always wash your hands before working with your produce and always wash your produce before eating.

Black Seeded Simpson/Red Oak Leaf Lettuce – Both of these crops taste good on a sandwich or salad.

Spinach/Kale– Great for salads.

Banana Peppers – love how they grow up and don’t let gravity “bring them down.”

Banana Peppers – They may be small, but they pack quite the taste.

Purple Peppers– This variety is similar to a green bell pepper. The boys were in charge of packing so each of you will have a surprise of what is in the box.

Carrots– Esperanza carrots – enjoy these summer delights. This new crop is out of the garden versus the raised bed.

Kohlrabi

Kohlrabi – Slowly maturing. Peel and cut like an apple. Eat raw or try it with some peanut butter.

Green Beans– This crop is growing like crazy. Let us know if you are interested in more for freezing or canning. Learn how to freeze them here.

Onions –If you are feeling overloaded on onions, cut them up and spread them out and freeze on a cookie sheet or pan. Once frozen place in a container or a Ziploc bag for use throughout the year. I do this and am just coming to my end of frozen onions. This helps speed up my meal preparation. See how onions are grown in Washington.

Egg Plant

Egg Plants– We will have a few egg plants. Please let us know if you like this vegetable.

Potatoes – Blue potatoes. It is awesome how quickly freshly dug potatoes quick. I boiled potatoes to make into mashed potatoes this week, and they were ready in less than 20 minutes.

Golden Egg Hybrid Summer Squash

Golden Egg Hybrid Summer Squash– This crop is slowly coming on with either Golden Egg Hybrid great to wash and slice to eat on a veggie tray, use on a kabob or try it sautéed in a little olive oil, salt and pepper.

Peter Pan Squash

Peter Pan Squash– No need to peel, simply wash and cut up this squash and use like the others. Check out these recipes.

Zucchini – This crop has been a bit slow due to our insect challenges this year. But it is coming on. So like the cauliflower and kohlrabi we are alternating it around the shareholders. Enjoy – here are some recipes from Country Living.

Zinnia

Tomatoes – Let us know if you would like extra to freeze, make into salsa, or can. Included this week are some of the 4th of July, Super Sweet 100 Hybrid, SunGold Cherry tomatoes and a few more varieties sprinkled in. Learn more about tomatoes on America’s Heartland. Learn how to freeze your tomatoes here.

Fresh cut arrangement – Hosta leaves, sunflowers, zinnias and more

Recipe of the Week

Sautéed Garden Fresh Green Beans

Sautéed Garden Fresh Green Beans

1 cup of green beans cut into 1 inch pieces

Pinch of Kosher Salt

¼ teaspoon of pepper

½ Tablespoon olive oil

Sautee’ above ingredients in a skillet on medium heat for about 5 minutes until desired tenderness is reached. Add onion and garlic if desired.

Harvesting tomatoes can be overwhelming. This week it was full of surprises in the amount of 4th of July tomatoes that we have.

This is the time of year where we start to see new surprises emerge. Such as the purple cauliflower to the bountiful tomatoes. You just never know from one day to the next what you will find. From new crops growing, to watermelon and pumpkins maturing to bountiful amounts of green beans and tomatoes.

It’s always a joy to see what the boys are seeing. From the colors of the new crops to the smell of a new cucumber plant emerging (smells like freshly cut cucumber – awesome!) to the color patterns on the 4 O’clock flowers to the odd shapes that nature sometimes creates for our vegetables, you just never know what surprises will emerge.

The bonus of all these vegetable surprises, all four of us are getting our daily recommended amount of vegetables by taste testing the crops as we check them each day.

We encourage you to take a moment where your feet are, be present, look around and take a moment to see what emerging surprises are where you stand.

Boxes of Produce

This list is prepared before we harvest your share. Some guesswork is involved! We do our best to predict which crops will be ready to harvest, but sometimes crops are on the list that are not in the share, and sometimes crops will be in the share even though they’re not on the list. Remember food safety in your kitchen when preparing, always wash your hands before working with your produce and always wash your produce before eating.

Black Seeded Simpson/Red Oak Leaf Lettuce– Both of these crops taste good on a sandwich or salad.

Spinach/Kale– Great for salads.

Banana Peppers

Banana Peppers– They may be small, but they pack quite the taste.

Green Peppers– A variety of peppers are starting to grow. The boys were in charge of packing so each of you will have a surprise of what is in the box.

Radishes – This is the end of the radish crop until the next one begins to grow.

Carrots– Esperanza carrots – enjoy these summer delights. This new crop is out of the garden versus the raised bed.

Purple Cauliflower

Kohlrabi or Purple Cauliflower– These crops are slowly maturing. So we will be alternating our way through everyone as they mature. Look for these surprises in the boxes.

Sugar Snap Peas– This is the end of this crop. Another one has started to grow. Stand by for more in the near future.

Jade Green Beans

Green Beans– This crop is growing like crazy. Let us know if you are interested in more for freezing or canning. Learn how to freeze them here.

Onions–If you are feeling overloaded on onions, cut them up and spread them out and freeze on a cookie sheet or pan. Once frozen place in a container or a Ziploc bag for use throughout the year. I do this and am just coming to my end of frozen onions. This helps speed up my meal preparation. See how onions are grown in Washington.

Potatoes – Yukon Gold potatoes. It is awesome how quickly freshly dug potatoes quick. I boiled potatoes to make into mashed potatoes this week, and they were ready in less than 20 minutes.

Golden Egg Hybrid Summer Squash– This crop is slowly coming on with either Golden Egg Hybrid great to wash and slice to eat on a veggie tray, use on a kabob or try it sautéed in a little olive oil, salt and pepper.

Peter Pan Squash– No need to peel, simply wash and cut up this squash and use like the others. Check out these recipes.

Zucchini – This crop has been a bit slow due to our insect challenges this year. But it is coming on. So like the cauliflower and kohlrabi we are alternating it around the shareholders. Enjoy – here are some recipes from Country Living.

Tomatoes– Let us know if you would like extra to freeze, make into salsa, or can. Included this week are some of the 4th of July, Super Sweet 100 Hybrid, SunGold Cherry tomatoes and a few more varieties sprinkled in. Learn more about tomatoes on America’s Heartland. Learn how to freeze your tomatoes here.

Zinnias, Hostas and Sunflowers

Fresh cut arrangement– Hosta Leaves, sunflowers, zinnias and more

A behind the scenes look at this morning’s harvest. Steve with his headlamp on because harvesting early in the morning before the heat of the day sets in does result in a better harvest. Ear phones -The Bob and Tom Show brings laughter to his morning. And yes, I married a man that can pick flowers and make them into a bouquet – I’ll take that any day.

Recipe of the Week

Lazy Tacos

Crush corn chips and layer taco favorites on top such as:

taco meat, onions, black olives, tomatoes, lettuce, cheddar cheese, chilli beans, cucumbers, salsa, cottage cheese or salad dressing. I would also include a variety of other vegetables that were in your boxes.

Lazy taco…add a side of fruit and a glass of milk, and you have a well balanced, colorful and fun meal for the family.

Planting is a regular cycle throughout the growing season for us. That is until we hit this time of year. Why you may ask?

You see all crops grow and produce differently. Some crops you harvest by pulling the root vegetable out of the ground like a carrot, beet or radish. Once you harvest the crop, you are done with that crop.

Beets grow below ground and are a root vegetable.

Carrots grow below ground and are a root vegetable.

While crops like cucumber, beans or tomatoes flower, then the flower is pollinated which then grows into a vegetable. Vegetables will be harvested when ripe. Once the plant is done flowering. The crop is pulled and fed to our chickens.

Peas – you can see the white flower drying up as the pea pod has formed.

The tomato plant flower, to the left is a small tomato growing and on the far left is a young cherry tomato which will turn red and be ready to harvest soon.

Jade Green Beans

Leaf vegetables such as spinach, lettuce and kale can be harvested by cutting the leaf. The leaf then grows back week after week. The plant will eventual start to look spent with leaves turning brown, change flavor etc. After which we again pull the crop from the ground and feed it to the chickens.

Lettuce leaves

With all of the above scenarios going on simultaneously and repetitively throughout the growing season planting has to occur in different areas of the garden to continuously provide fresh vegetables throughout the season.

Inhibitors to a regular plant growing cycle include weather changes combined with soil type, fertilizer for proper plant nutrition and health, insects and weeds that inhibit the proper and regular growth cycle to allow for quality crops.

So believe it or not as we look ahead the growing season is quickly upon us and not knowing when a frost will occur in September, we are nearing the end of a repetitive planting season. The last one has taken place with hope that the crops will continue to grow until the end of September.

Garden Science

Zinnia – looks like three grew as one. Maybe it’s like a 3 leaf clover – full of luck.

Check out this activity on the 4’OClocks.

Boxes of Produce

This list is prepared before we harvest your share. Some guesswork is involved! We do our best to predict which crops will be ready to harvest, but sometimes crops are on the list that are not in the share, and sometimes crops will be in the share even though they’re not on the list. Remember food safety in your kitchen when preparing, always wash your hands before working with your produce and always wash your produce before eating.

Black Seeded Simpson/Red Oak Leaf Lettuce– Both of these crops taste good on a sandwich or salad.

Spinach/Kale– Great for salads – a new crop of Kale was included this week.

Sugar Snap Peas – A new crop of peas. This is our first crop of sugar snap peas. Our favorite variety.

Jade Green Beans

Green Beans– The first crop of Jade green beans. Delicious raw or cooked. However you prefer to eat them.

Banana Peppers

Peppers– Banana peppers, green peppers and a few surprise peppers adorn your boxes. They may be small, but they pack quite the taste.

Onions –Enjoy on your burgers, brats or hotdogs. I cut my onions up and freeze them to use – the year. It makes cooking much easier when I have onions pre-cut, frozen and ready for a hotdish.

Potatoes– Kennebec potatoes are in your box this week. These are great baking potatoes.

Golden Egg Hybrid Summer Squash

Peter Pan Squash

Summer Squash– This crop is slowly coming on with either Golden Egg Hybrid (yellow) or Peter Pan (white). Both would be great in the summer squash soup below.

Tomatoes – This summer favorite is coming on. Included this week are some of the 4th of July tomatoes and some SunGold cherry tomatoes.

Fresh cut arrangement – Hosta Leaves, sunflowers, hydrangeas, zinnias

Recipe of the Week

Summer Squash Soup

5 small yellow summer squash, seeded and cubed (I have used 2 medium or 1 large instead)

2 green onions, cut into 3-inch pieces

2 tablespoons butter

1 can (14-1/2 ounces) chicken or vegetable broth

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon white pepper

1-1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

1. In a large saucepan, saute squash and onions in butter until tender. Stir in the broth, salt and pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

2. Cool slightly. Process in batches in a blender; return all to the pan. Stir in cream and heat through.

Golden Egg Hybrid Summer Squash – I always wipe them down with a Chlorox wipe before I cut them up.

Take your Golden Egg Hybrid Summer Squash, cut down the middle and peel the outside – I used both a knife and a peeler.

Inside of the summer squash before removing the seeds.

Using a spoon, I scoop out the seeds.

Cut into cubes about 1/2 – 1 inch in size.

Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Puree the mixture.

Cool slightly. Process in batches in a blender; return all to the pan. Stir in cream and heat through.

Place back in your pan, add cream, salt and pepper and warm the soup up. Serve with crackers if desired. We enjoyed this soup with Townhouse Crackers.